>> this is "bbc world news." funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to know your business, offering specialized solutions and capital to help you meet your growth objectives.

we offer expertise and tailored solutions for small businesses and major corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news america." >> this is "bbc world news america." reporting from washington, i'm jane o'brien. whose to blame? the country's foreign minister accuses other nations of supporting terrorism. door to door, street by street, we join grass root supporters in ohio as the u.s. presidential election campaign enters a critical week. and the miracle at medinah. europe's golfers stage one of the sport's greatest comebacks in the ryder cup.

>> welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. over the past week, peopling at the u.n. publicly weighed in the debate about what to do about the syrian conflict. today it was syria's turn to respond. president assad was unsurprisingly absent from the podium. instead, the talking was left to the country's foreign minister. walid muallem accused those spork terrorism in his country and prostriding arms to his army. he said calling president assad to step down would be serious to the affairs. he met with the secretary general to show compassion to their own people. but just how far is all the

rhetoric got us? i'm joined here in the studio by steve from the u.s. institute of peace. steve, thank you very much indeed for coming in. listening to muallem's speech, what sort of insight does it give us into the way the syrian regime is thinking right now? >> well, the foreign minister repeated almost verbatim what they called this uprising from the very beginning. they depicted it as driven by foreign elements, as a conspiracy against the syrian people, against the syrian nation, and it's a way of denying any legitimacy to the claims of the opposition and rejecting the possibility that the regime itself might have some culpability for the violence that has racked syria for the past 18 months, if not longer. so they've developed this as a way to fend off any responsibility and to shift the blame onto others.

unfortunately they found support for their narrative including russia and iran and that has not got them to see things in a way more willing to talk about the possibility for change. >> also, very strong words about the u.s., which, of course, has only been providing nonlethal support to the opposition. is that you think an indication that even that support is having some impact? >> when you look at the effect that the uprising has had, it's not surprising that the regime lumps all of the governments that have supported the opposition into one big category as foreign conspirators. this is a regime that has lost control over enormous parts of its territory over the last 18 months. much of its officer corps has defected. it has failed to suppress the revolution. it has lost control over major urban centers. it's very much on the defensive and this is its way of striking back i think by targeting every government that supports

political change in syria as supporters of terror. >> now, you're working very closely with various members of the opposition. there's been a lot of drift simple that they lacked unity. we're not quite sure who they are yet. do you think that they're ready for government yet? >> there is still a significant level of competition and conflict within the syrian opposition. but on a number of issues, including the kind of post-assad future that the opposition is fighting for. we find significant convergence across different spectrums of the opposition that was evident in the work we did with them, it's evident in the work the group that the arab league has sponsored, and i think these are very promising sides because even the question of who will lead remains unsettled and even if that continues to be a source of some competition among the opposition, that there are significant elements on which they can agree and that they can build on as the possibility for political

change becomes closer. >> and meanwhile the fighting continues. steve, thank you very much indeed for joining us. >> thank you. >> well, to south africa now where a judicial inquiry has opened in the bloodiest security incident since the end of apar thide -- apartheid. 10, including two policemen, died during weeks of unrest at the miami. we have the latest. >> the commission of inquiry into the massacre began with the names of those who died being read out one by one. and then there was a minute of silence in memory of those who were killed back in august. the judge, a retired supreme court judge, outlined what he hopes to achieve through this fact-finding mission.

>> we believe that as we read the evidence -- get really to the truth of what , why and how it happened will be part of the healing and restoration process. >> in a bit to have more time to consult with his clients, a senior legal counsel representing some of the families who lost their loved ones, requested this. >> we should postpone these proceedings. >> until when? >> the chairman declined. but promised a speedy process. the commission left its air-conditioned room and drove some 30 kilometers away to the scene of this shooting.

>> cease-fire. >> so far you found 13 bodies. >> this is the 13th. there are two bodies. >> the judicial of inquiry is well and truly under way. as you can see the judge has come here to see for himself where the bodies of those who were shot were found. evidently there was still a feeling of deep mistrust on the ground. this commission of inquiry is expected to be completed within four months. south africans hope this investigation will end its part in the killing field. milton, bbc news.

>> in other news now, somali forces have entered central kismayo two days after al shabaab fighters went in the region. they're patrolling the city's main roads for the first time. kismayo was al shabaab's largest strong hold and one of the largest sources of funding. at least eight people have been killed and 40 injured after a ferry sarning off the coast of hong kong. around 120 were onboard when at the collided with a tug boat near lamma island. they were going to view a fire work display to mark china's national day. iran's currentsy has fallen to a record low against the dollar. at one point on monday they lost 18% of its value. analysts say there's growing evidence that international sanctions over tehran's nuclear program are damaging the economy. now to the presidential race here in the u.s. and both mitt romney and barack obama are

busy swatting up and rehearsing for the first television debate this wednesday. polls show the republican candidate is trailing president obama in the crucial swing states. one of them is of course ohio where early voting gets under way tomorrow. from there our north america editor reports. >> ♪ the boys are back in town ♪ >> the boys are indeed back in town yet again. they call this the buckeye state for the men who are fighting for the white house it's a state to suck up to, whether it's buying the local produce. >> i'm thinking we are going to be eating some corn over the weekend. >> or urging minors to phone a friend. >> want you to find one person to convince to vote for our ticket. >> both candidates are well aware in the last election in the last 44 years ohio has voted for the winning candidate so the politicians woo voters. >> we can create one million new manufacturing jobs in the next four years with the right

policies. that's what i'm fighting for. that's why i'm running for a second term as president. that's what's going to be important to ohio. >> his plan is to continue what he's done before, the status quo has not worked. we cannot afford four more years of barack obama. we're not going to have four more years of barack obama. >> the road to the white house runs through ohio, that's why the candidates have made more than 30 visits here already. the fact is that in this huge country, the election will be decided in just a few places like this. this is the most expensive presidential race ever. the two parties have already spent more than $1 billion in all, much of it focused on just eight of america's 50 states. over a third of the money has been spent on political adverts aimed at swaying undecided voters, roughly a million people, around 3% of those who plan to vote. >> maybe instead of attacking others on taxes, romney should come clean on his. >> trying to reach these vital

voters, the two campaigns have spent $116 million on tv ads in ohio alone, most attacking their opponent. >> fewer americans are working today than when president obama took office. >> but if the air war is important, the ground war could be important. an emotional opening of the latest obama campaign field office, they now have more in an 100 in the state. the romney campaign just over 30. here they're trying to rebuild obama's 2008 winning coalition of women, young people and african-americans to rekindle the old magic. >> fire it up. >> ready to go. >> door-to-door canvases check up on obama who vote -- on people who voted for obama last time. >> are you going to be voting this election? >> yes. >> i'm a volunteer with president obama's re-election campaign. >> others on the list get a phone call. tonight's session is aimed at women voters. their opponents say they're

working just as hard and despite the polls there's everything to play for. >> our job is to knock on every door, call every person we possibly can, deliver every last piece of mail and the campaign's job is to close the deal, sell that last voter on that inspirational, aspirational message of where governor romney wants to take the country. >> when the rally is over the real work begins for people fighting the street-by-street battle to win this bellwether state. >> well, one thing we hope is certain, the first television debate between the two won't be as heated as the now infamous on-screen battle in russia last year. billionaire newspaper owner, alexander, lashed out at a fellow businessman during a live debate and is now being charged with hule beganism. but he says -- hull beganism. but he says it's against him. he's been speaking with the

bbc's daniel sanford. >> it's one of the sensations of last year when one multimillionaire, alexander, thumped another one during the debate on the global economic crisis. but the fight has taken on a more serious dimension. he was charged with huliganism, motivated by political hatred. the charge means he could go to prison and he told me it comes on the back of several raids by men on his businesses. is there no idea why they're putting the pressure on you? >> no. only kind of subjective impression that i'm kind of a dissident, political dissident who's not only violating the principle that if you made some money, thanks to us, you shouldn't be criticizing us for something. there's an unwritten rule.

some say that he should stop all of his investigations. that's the only way. >> that is the reference to a fierceless criminal investigative newspaper which he owns along with the former soviet leader mikheil gorbachev. so does he think vladimir putin is behind his troubles? >> i have the impression if we talked to him, he would say, i am not this character. you have a war with them. why should i interfere? i mean, these are separate institutions. my objection, no institutions here. just one institution which is the president. he runs everything. i mean, with the tip of his fingers, rather, than anything else. it's like believing that stalin never knew about the other. >> he is being charged with the same thing that a group of

girls are being charged with. the three prisoners were back in court appealing their two-year sentences. but the case was postponed for 10 days. daniel, bbc news, moscow. >> you're watching "bbc world news america." still to congressional tonight's program -- the first african-american to attend university explains why race remains a crucial issue in the united states. >> south korean pop star has a u.k. number one. if you haven't heard it, hear this. >> the ridiculously catchy tune with its overtop video has become a global phenomenon. ♪ >> the song, what exactly is

gangham style? >> it doesn't have any meaning actually. i'm just saying gangham style which doesn't have that much meaning. it's about some lady and some guys, you know -- >> the video has been viewed on youtube more than 300 million times. has more likes than any other in history. and despite being a self-parody has been affectionately spoofed by the thai navy, a gruche californian lifeguards. -- group of californian lifeguards and even prisoners in a jail. it's the latest in a long line of viral chart hits. remember this one? >> ♪ >> and what about the crazy frogs? but this is one has been more successful worldwide. when you play the song on the

radio, people seem to quite like the song because it's catchy. normally with a novelty song like this people hate the song but quite like the video. this works on both levels. even britney speers is a fan. teaching the trademark movies on american tv. and that's the kind of support that may help him achieve the next big step of landing a number one single on both sides of the atlantic. >> ♪ gangham style ♪ >> it's being dubbed the miracle of medina. on the course outside chicago, europe's top players produced a stunning comeback to beat the u.s. in the ryder cup. the europeans have gone into the final day four points down and were playing in front of a large and strongly partisan american crowd. but in spite of the odds they managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

martin kaymer sank a five-foot putt to get his group where they needed to retain the trophy. well, joining me now from new york is mike walker, senior editor of "golf magazine" and golf.com. mike, thanks very much for joining me. i don't know much about the technicalities of golf, but i do get that the europeans pulled off a historic victory when the americans should have been unbeatable. what went wrong? >> yeah. the ryder cup, it's a strange thing that happens. i mean, these golfers generally are used to playing by themselves as we know. they get together as a team and there does seem to be something with this european team, something happens between the players, they feed off of each other's energy and then when they were down after saturday, four points, which in this format is a huge deficit, and they kept winning matches and they really seemed if one was

ahead, another one would get ahead and they fed on each other and the next thing it was a tied match going into the end and the europeans pulled it off. >> the crowd must have been stunned. >> yeah, it was ryder cup crowds, they're really like nothing else in golf because fans act like fans at every other sporting event. they cheer very loudly. there was a strong european contention. on sunday definitely the strategy by the europeans was to take the crowd out of it. they got up early. they sent out their best players. they sent out luke donald. they sent out justin rose. they sent out rory mcilroye. they quieted the crowd in chicago and that's why they were able to win. >> tiger woods has been getting a lot of blame by the media here in the u.s. does he deserve it, do you think? >> i mean, over the course of its career, the ryder cup has been a place where he's not performed to the level he has in other spots. i do think that the format of

the ryder cup is different. i mean, you look at the way people play tiger woods and it's not over 72 holes like they usually play. it's just one day. and there's no question that guys raise their games when they're playing against tiger woods. i mean, cosarts, when he played against tiger woods he didn't miss a putt. when luke donald played him, he played well. it's not that woods played poorly, the way the guys he was playing against, he couldn't match their level. does tiger woods take a blame? yeah. he doesn't play the way he normally plays at these events. his opponents definitely raised their game when they face tiger woods. >> mike, very, very briefly. can the u.s. break europe's winning streak, very briefly? >> i think there were a lot of positives from the u.s. they have a lot of young players who have that same atmosphere that the europeans do, that feed off each other. keegan bradley was a guy that came off with a lot of energy.

zach johnson played well. this younger people that doesn't have the scar tissue having lost 15 years, the u.s. does feel good about the future. yes, we wish we can do this every year. you have to wait until 2014 to see fts going to happen. >> there is -- to see if it's going to happen. >> there's the challenge. mike walker, thank you very much. >> you're welcome. >> now to an iconic moment in the civil rights history. 50 years ago, the first african-american student to enroll at the university of mississippi. his place on campus was deeply unpopular among white students. it led to riots so severe president john f. kennedy sent in the national guard to restore order. so 50 years long, how have things changed in america? >> i came back to mississippi in 1960 to launch a war against white supremacy with the intent of destroying it.

the color line didn't enter the picture. only citizenship. and the rights and privileges there are and the reality of enjoying them or not enjoying them. and that's the reason why i looked the way i did because i knew the other side of fear that if someone was in the situation where they were afraid and showed no fear it would scare the life out of the other side and i know it was for rear because they were shaking like a leaf on a tree.

my job was finished. once i put the president of the united states in the position where he had to use the military might of the united states of america to protect my rights as a citizen, everything else was somebody else's job. i was not a human being. i was a soldier. and soldiers when they go to war, what soldiers do is kill enemies. of course a soldier must at all times be ready to die for his country and his cause.

i went to war 50 years ago and i'm still at war. the present president of the united states was elected by the exact same people who elected their first 43 presidents of the united states and for exactly the same reasons. so nothing of substance has changed yet. i've always been at war with the system, not people. i just hope before i die i get the enemy to acknowledge that i ain't in a war with them and that they won the war almost all the time and that maybe i had one victory. >> speaking to us 50 years

after he helped end racial segregation at the university of mississippi. and that brings today's show to a close. i'm jane eo'brien. thank you for joining and please come back tomorrow. >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding for this presentation was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to understand the industry you

operate in, working to nurture new ventures and help provide capital for key strategic decisions. we offer expertise and tailored solutions in a wide range of industries. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news" was pr